NFL

I was going to write something new, but with Kaep in the local news , I decided to comment on this knee jerk reaction post from when he first took a knee.
Things I still think: He has the freedom to express himself by taking a knee. You have the right to express that you hate him for that. These freedoms are part of what makes America great. I will still take him over the white guys who stand but chat, drink beer and make fun of the singers during the national anthem.
Feelings that changed – For some reason I was not a fan before this and that was part of my knee jerk reaction to hate him more. As time has gone by, I’ve discoverd I like and respect him more now and would be happy to have him on my team.

Not that anyone wants another middle-aged white guy’s opinion on the way a person of color decides to protest oppression, but here it goes anyway:

First, and most important is that the best thing about this country is freedom. We have freedom of speech and freedom of expression right there in the Constitution. If you truly believe in these freedoms, you will believe that he has a right to express himself in this way. We have the right to not stand up for the national anthem, not say the pledge of allegiance and to even burn the flag if we choose. It’s part of what makes this country great. On the other hand, you have the right to think he is an asshole and say that as much as you want. I have the right to write a rambling, most likely wishy-washy, blog post about the situation. It’s what makes…

Unless you have been living under a rock the past week you have likely heard the controversy surrounding the New England Patriots and their deflated balls. At this point, it seems like there is enough evidence to prove that the balls were deflated and that the New England Patriots have cheated once again. Bill Bellichek can claim all he wants that he knows nothing about the issues with his balls, but we all know that isn’t true. We have to assume that since Tom Brady and the rest of the offense spends their entire career handling balls that they had to know as well. My personal opinion is that Bill Belichek needs to be suspended since this is his second time being caught cheating. If the NFL had any guts they would suspend him for the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, what will likely happen is that they will be so mad at New England that they will fine Marshawn Lynch more money for grabbing his crotch(maybe we was making sure his balls were properly inflated?) and not talking to the media.

This is not a sore loser complaint. I’m not saying the Ravens lost to NE because of their balls(I do blame GB’s loss on the lack of balls). I’m saying that I don’t like cheaters and that we seem to be to willing to forgive the cheaters of the world. There are plenty of people out there who think nothing should be done because they assume NE would have won anyway. These are probably the same people who think the steroid users from baseball deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. These are probably people who would and possibly have cheated to get ahead in life. We use the excuse that “everyone else is doing it” so it’s OK for us to do it as well. Do I think that there is a good chance that every team in sports cheats in some way? Yes, I think bending and violating rules is common place. Do I think that’s OK? No, I don’t. I would like to think that my team’s ownership, coaches and players are honest, but I wouldn’t be shocked to find out that they aren’t. I also wouldn’t argue that it’s no big deal. If John Harbaugh was caught cheating I would wnat him suspended by the NFL and fired by the team. Same goes for John Calipari at UK. I would rather be an honest loser than a cheating winner.

Now that the Ravens are done for the year, it’s time to start looking ahead to off season moves. We will be saying goodbye to some familiar names this year. I think the following will not be on the team next year:

Michael Oher – too inconsistent.

Arthur Jones – too expensive

Jacoby Jones – too expensive for what he does

Ed Dickson – We have Pitta and Dickson can’t catch

James Ihedigbo – Elam will move to strong safety and they will bring in a free safety.

I think Suggs will restructure and stay with the team. If he refuses, I believe they really will cut him.

I think the O line will be addressed via free agency, while the WR and safety positions are filled mainly via the draft.

I think the team would really like Caldwell to get offered a job so they can bring in another OC.

I think they will pick up another young RB either late in the draft or free agency in case Rice/Pierce don’t improve.

In lieu of my normal post where I pretend like I know something about football, I would like to talk about the stupidity of fans. The Ravens are 3-4. This is not a good record and the team is not playing well. There is a very real chance they will not make the playoffs this season. The fans are not happy. I admit that I don’t enjoy watching them lose and that I did say that if they are going to miss the playoffs that I would almost rather them lose every game so they could get a high draft pick. I still, however, plan to go the the home games, watch the away games and cheer for them to win. I will also be disappointed when they lose, but I won’t stop watching and I will never boo them. Others have already started booing the home team. That is never acceptable.

I also don’t have the short memory that other fans apparently have. Since Harbaugh and Flacco have been with the team they have not missed the playoffs once. They just won the Super Bowl last season. at 3-4 this year people are already saying they should bench Flacco and start Tyrod Taylor. Are you insane? Flacco was the Super Bowl MVP last year and you want to bench him after 7 games the next season? I think Flacco has done a pretty good job considering he lost Boldin and Pitta, had no run game and faces pressure on almost every play. People need to take the time to look at all aspects of the game instead of thinking everything is always the quarterback’s fault. I will be happy to have Flacco as the Ravens’ QB for many years.

I heard some people this morning starting to talk about Harbaugh as the problem. Maybe we should get a new coach. Are you insane? He has taken the team to the playoffs every year as the coach and won the Super Bowl last year. Do you remember the shape the team was in when he got here? He has done an excellent job as the coach of the Ravens. So I think he’s made some questionable decisions, especially this season? Yes, I do. Do I think he’s still the best man for the job? Yes, I do. It’s really stupid to stat questioning a coach’s ability to coach seven games removed from a Super Bowl win.

I would much rather the team be 7-0 or even 4-3, but I’m not going to give up on players and coaches because of a bad start. I won’t even give up on Flacco and Harbaugh if they go 3-13. I won’t be happy, but I will trust them to figure out the issues and gt better next year and I will still never boo them.

The Ravens got the win in a close one yesterday. I have to admit that a road game against a team with a winning record worried me. I was also worried about the fact that the only three receivers they had were Doss, Thompson and Smith. I was pleasantly surprised by the win.

The good:
the run defense was very good

Once again, the defense pressured the QB a lot and sacked him several times as well

The defense, in general is very good this year

Ed Dickson and Tandon Doss learned to catch

Justin Tucker is very good.

The run game looked better.

3-2 equals a tie for first place.

The bad:
Bryant McKinnie

The pass protection in general. Flacco is very good, but he needs time to throw.

I wrote one, but it was intercepted by the Buffalo Bills. Actually, there is no real one today because I was only able to listen to most of the game. Everything I know about the game I got from Sandusky, Q and Stan White. If I base a post on what they said, it will be even dumber than normal. What I will say is that, yes, it was a bad game. 5 interceptions is bad, but so is having a receiving corps that can’t catch and an O line that can’t run block or give the QB time to throw the ball. I know the defense gave up a lot of yards on the ground, but if your offense turns the ball over 5 times and you still have a chance to win, the defense is obviously doing something right.

We just won the super bowl last year and people are still unhappy. If you are ready to jump ship at this point, you are not a true fan and won’t be missed.